MAN ROBS TAXPAYERS OF $1.4 Million In Food Stamp Scam…Using Fish!

Dec 18, 2016

A New York State man swindled over one million dollars from taxpayers in a rather unusual way. He had food stamp holders buy fish at retail markets and then sell it to him at steep discounts. It’s a sad story of greed and entitlement…

The father of the store operator built the fish market business up and now the son has ruined the reputation of the family that once dined at the White House:

Feldman operates Upstate Fish, a market at 826 Joseph Ave. His father, Jack, a Holocaust survivor, opened the store under the name Jack’s Modern Fish Market in 1954 and is a well-known figure in the community. A year ago, the elder Feldman was among a number of Holocaust survivors who had Hanukkah dinner with the Obamas and the president of Israel at the White House.

Irving Feldman was accused of two different schemes, one netting more than $1.2 million and the other more than $200,000.

The more lucrative scheme involved unlawfully buying $1,227,063 worth of food stamps from willing recipients for less than half their face value, according to the news release. The recipients received cash, and Feldman was able to reap a considerable profit by redeeming the food stamps with the federal government for their full value.

Feldman also admitted to a second scheme in which he induced food stamp recipients to use their benefit cards to buy fish from other retail markets, then sell the fish to him at steeply discounted prices. The recipients pocketed cash, and Feldman got inventory he could sell at full value.

The value of that scheme was about $202,000, the official statement said.